Gemma Collins

Interior Design (MA)
Smiling young woman with long blonde hair in a burgundy turtleneck, seated in front of architectural drawings on a white wall.
A vibrant public space with a sunken garden, trees, and mid-rise buildings. People relax, walk, and talk near benches and water features. A striking structure with open stairs and a glass canopy anchors the area.
A vibrant public space with a sunken garden, trees, and mid-rise buildings. People relax, walk, and talk near benches and water features. A striking structure with open stairs and a glass canopy anchors the area.
Street-level view of The In-Between: a renewed public space with a sunken garden, integrated seating, and a glass-canopied structure—reviving a once-unused dock through community and connection.
Interior view of The In-Between: a bright public space with a coffee stand and book display. People gather, sit, and move through the area, surrounded by warm materials and soft lighting that invite pause and connection.
Interior view of The In-Between: a bright public space with a coffee stand and book display. People gather, sit, and move through the area, surrounded by warm materials and soft lighting that invite pause and connection.
Interior view of The In-Between, where a café, bookstand, and cinema signage activate the space—blurring culture and comfort to invite moments of pause, discovery, and connection within the heart of the building.
Sectional drawing of a building interior showing a central public street. On the left is the digital cinema tower, and on the right is the analog tower with cultural and reflective spaces. The drawing illustrates the spatial connection between the two through a continuous public route.
Sectional drawing of a building interior showing a central public street. On the left is the digital cinema tower, and on the right is the analog tower with cultural and reflective spaces. The drawing illustrates the spatial connection between the two through a continuous public route.
Section showing the public street, with the digital cinema on the left and the analog tower on the right—blending culture, movement, and reflection.
An abstract exploration of movement in Shifting Boundaries: The In-Between, Early Stages, where elevator paths inspired a new spatial language—transforming the building’s once-mundane core into the foundation for an immersive spatial experience.
A vibrant public space with a sunken garden, trees, and mid-rise buildings. People relax, walk, and talk near benches and water features. A striking structure with open stairs and a glass canopy anchors the area.
Interior view of The In-Between: a bright public space with a coffee stand and book display. People gather, sit, and move through the area, surrounded by warm materials and soft lighting that invite pause and connection.
Sectional drawing of a building interior showing a central public street. On the left is the digital cinema tower, and on the right is the analog tower with cultural and reflective spaces. The drawing illustrates the spatial connection between the two through a continuous public route.

About

Gemma Marie Collins is an architectural and interior designer whose work explores how reuse and material storytelling can shape more meaningful, responsive spaces. During her time at the RCA, she was awarded the UK Vice-Chancellor’s Scholarship, served as a course representative, and founded the School of Architecture’s first Culture Group, fostering interdisciplinary dialogue.

Fueled by a passion for reuse and innovative thinking, she creates spaces that honour material memory while boldly advancing design—transforming the mundane into beautiful spatial experiences. Gemma sees reuse not just as a sustainable strategy, but as a creative act—one that challenges us to rethink value, beauty, and the impact we leave on the world around us.

Have you ever wondered what happens to buildings left empty as our cities evolve? 15 Westferry Circus, a postmodern office tower on the edge of Canary Wharf, faces this challenge head-on. Once a symbol of London’s financial power, it now stands underused as work and urban life shift.

The In-Between preserves the building’s iconic facades while boldly inserting a new central structure, where the public street cuts through—creating a vibrant dialogue between old and new. A dynamic digital tower, featuring a cinema that projects into the street, redefines shared cultural experience through moving image and public interaction. Opposite, an analog tower honours heritage with photography-focused galleries, workshops, an archive, and library—spaces that keep material craft and image-making alive. Linking these layers, a sunken garden and café breathe life and community into the heart of the building.

By extending existing materials indoors and opening the site to both the riverside and dock, this project transforms a dormant office block into a lively civic hub—a powerful example of adaptive reuse shaping a sustainable, inclusive future.

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